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Abstract

The QLogic 12200-BS21, 12800-040, and 12800-180 are 36-port, 72-port, and 324-port Quad Data Rate (QDR, 40 GB) InfiniBand switches, respectively, designed for cost-effective linking resources into a cluster or providing an edge switch option for a large fabric. Clients can tailor the modular product to meet present and future needs. The QLogic 12200-BS21, 12800-040, and 12800-180 are a series of products that deliver high-speed networking features and functions.

Contents

InfiniBand is an industry-standard high-performance interconnect for clusters and enterprise grids. This industry-standard fabric creates clusters that address many of the requirements, such as those found in scientific, technical, and financial applications. InfiniBand solutions are designed for high availability and can also deliver the scalability required by distributed database processing.

The QLogic 12200-BS21 is a 36-port, 40 Gbps InfiniBand switch that cost-effectively links workgroup resources into a cluster. This compact 1U solution is used for building small node count fabrics. Included in the switch are redundant power supplies, power cords, a rack mount kit, and the QLogic InfiniBand Fabric Suite. The QLogic 12800-040 is a 72-port, 40 Gbps InfiniBand switch that links resources using a scalable, low-latency fabric. The 12800-040 supports up to four 18-port QDR leaf modules. Included in the switch are redundant QDR Management Modules, redundant power supplies, redundant fans, power cords, a rack mount kit, and the QLogic InfiniBand Fabric Suite. The QLogic 12800-180 is a 324-port 40 Gbps InfiniBand switch designed to maintain larger clusters, supporting up to eighteen 18-port QDR leaf modules. Included in the 12800-180 are redundant QDR Management Modules, a full complement of Management Modules to provide a 100% nonblocking fabric for all ports, redundant power supplies, redundant fans, power cords, rack mount kit, and QLogic InfiniBand Fabric Suite.

These new QDR high-performance server switches enable you to form high-performance clusters and grids that deliver the performance required for you to realize the full potential of your applications and systems.

QLogic 12800 and 12200 InfiniBand switches series are part of the IBM® Power Systems™ Cluster. The IBM Power Systems Cluster is a fully integrated HPC solution. IBM clustering solutions include servers, storage, and industry-leading OEM interconnects that are factory-integrated, fully tested, and delivered to your door, ready to plug into your data center, all with a single point of contact for support.

Part number information

Table 1 shows the part numbers to order these modules and additional options for them.

* The Fabric Director Leaf Module Blank is used to fill unused Leaf Slots within the QLogic QDR InfiniBand Fabric Director Switches. Empty leaf module positions on the 7874-072 or 7874-324 QLogic QDR InfiniBand switch.
** The IBM 7874-036 and IBM 7874-072 can be mounted in any IBM 19-inch rack. To address the need for larger system cable management of the InfiniBand cables, the IBM 7874-324 is required to be installed in a 7014-T42 rack, with the rack extender feature number. The rack extender is 20-inches deep.

Note: Larger configurations require the use of an external Host Subnet Manager (HSM). This will be running on an IBM System x3550 or IBM System x3650, with InfiniBand Host Channel Adapter and InfiniBand cable. Commercial configurations can use the Embedded Subnet Manager (ESM), which is monitored from the network. More than 144 nodes will require the use of the HSM.

Figure 2 shows the 12800-180 switch module.

Figure 2. QLogic 12800-180 InfiniBand switch

The QLogic 12800-180, 12800-040, and 12200-BS21 QDR InfiniBand switches, based on QLogic TrueScale ASIC technology, deliver the next evolution in switch fabric performance for High Performance Computing (HPC) environments.

Flexible partitioning: The QLogic 12800 and 12200 advanced design are based on an architecture that provides comprehensive virtual fabric partitioning capabilities that enable the InfiniBand fabric to support the evolving requirements of an organization. The TrueScale architecture, together with IFS, allows the fabric to be shared by mission-critical applications while delivering maximum bandwidth utilization.

Modular design: InfiniBand port, power, cooling, and management modules are common in the series, giving customers the flexibility to deploy and grow HPC environments in a cost-effective fashion.

Investment protection: The QLogic 12800 and 12200 adheres to the InfiniBand Trade Association Version 1.2 specification, ensuring the ability to interoperate with all other IBTA-compliant devices.

Highly reliable: This system is designed for high availability with features that include port-to-port and module-to-module failover, non-disruptive firmware upgrades, component-level diagnostics and alarming, and both in-band and out-of-band management.

Easy to manage: The 12800 and 12200 use QLogic’s advanced IFS software for quicker installation and configuration. IFS has advanced tools to verify fabric configuration, topology, and performance. Faults are automatically isolated to the component level and reported.

Simple installation and configuration: Using the installation and configuration wizards contained in the IFS package allows users to bring up fabrics in days instead of weeks.

Power optimized: Maximum performance is delivered with minimal power and cooling requirements as part of QLogic’s Star Power commitment to developing green solutions for the data center.

Features and specifications

The QLogic 12800 InfiniBand switches include the following features and functions:

Between 36 and 324 ports of InfiniBand QDR (40 Gbps) performance with support for DDR and SDR

The QLogic 12800 InfiniBand switch family supports the following management methods:

Command-line interface

Optional external server-based InfiniBand-compliant subnet manager

Optional embedded fabric management

IBTA-compliant SMA, PMA, and BMA

Chassis management GUI

SNMP support

Access methods

10/100 Ethernet Base-T

Serial port (RS-232 with DB9)

QLogic 12200-SB21

The QLogic 12200-SB21 has the following specifications:

36 ports

5.76 Tbps switching capacity

The QLogic 12200 InfiniBand switch supports the following management methods:

QLogic InfiniBand Fabric Suite

Optional external server-based InfiniBand compliant subnet manager

IBTA compliant SMA and PMA

Supported servers, adapters, and cables

The QLogic 12800 and 12200 InfiniBand switches support IBM Power Systems nodes with InfiniBand adapters installed in Power Systems or BladeCenter® servers. The tables below show core solution components from the IBM Cluster systems release guide.

QDR InfiniBand solution with Power Systems servers and QLogic 12800 series switches

Special Notices

This material has not been submitted to any formal IBM test and is published AS IS. It has not been the subject of rigorous review. IBM assumes no responsibility for its accuracy or completeness. The use of this information or the implementation of any of these techniques is a client responsibility and depends upon the client's ability to evaluate and integrate them into the client's operational environment.